


my love (a sharp knife, a cold night)

by sunnymygal



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Humor, soft maiko because i love them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:08:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27194234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnymygal/pseuds/sunnymygal
Summary: But he doesn’t want to rush things, so he holds off on telling Mai about his newly realized feelings. Perceptive as always, she notices he’s acting different but mercifully doesn’t bring attention to it. She probably knows he loves her, and is just waiting for him to spit it out already.And he should-- he knows he should, but there’s something to deliciously saccharine about the wait. The way she catches her breath when he tucks an errant strand of hair back into her updo, the slight blush that graces her cheeks when he drags his hand across her hip. He knows, and she knows, and it’s maddening to wait for the right moment.
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 62
Collections: Fall Maiko Week 2020





	my love (a sharp knife, a cold night)

**Author's Note:**

> title from white noise by flor. excuse any grammatical errors or typos. <3

Zuko met Mai for the first time when he was six years old. 

Kindergarten at BSSE had just begun, and Zuko was nervous about attending a new school. Sokka and Suki were in his class, so he knew he would have friends, but the anxiety of a new classroom and a new teacher was still present through the fluttering in his stomach. 

The teacher turned out to be a tall, kind looking woman who they called Mrs. Kyoshi. She showed pictures of her war fans, which made Sokka gasp in wonder and clutch at Zuko’s arm. 

“Look, Zuko! They’re so pretty!” he’d exclaimed, drawing annoyed looks from other children. Zuko didn’t mind, though. He was used to his friend’s loud personality— liked it, in fact. It made him laugh, and helped make him less nervous. 

Suki had excitedly waved her hand in the air, eager to tell everyone about her summers she spent on Kyoshi Island, their teacher’s hometown. She shared her own experience with war fans, stumbling through how her whole family are trained as elite warriors, and that she will be as well. 

Mrs. Kyoshi thanked her for her story, then announced she was going to put everyone into groups of two to introduce themselves. Zuko’s stomach erupted in butterflies once again at the thought of being separated from Sokka and Suki. Suki sensed his oncoming spiral, settling two comforting hands on his shoulders and looking at his seriously. 

“It’ll be okay, Zuko,” she’d said. “Whoever you meet is going to be super fun!”

Zuko watched Sokka get paired up with a girl named Jin and Suki get paired with Song, and decided kindergarten sucked. 

Finally, Mrs. Kyoshi called out his name. “Zuko Sozin, you’re with Mai Kimura.” A girl with long, silky black hair appeared in front of him. His first though was,  _ oh she’s pretty.  _ His second thought was,  _ oh, she’s kind of scary. _

“My name’s Mai. But you already know that. I’m six years old.” She clasps her hands e behind her back, and draws herself up to her full height. Distantly, Zuko notes that she’s taller than him by a couple inches. “I like poems and drawing. What about you?”

He clears his throat and begins. “Um, I’m Zuko. I’m also six years old, and I like plays.”

Mai perks up, leaning forward. “My friend Ty Lee does too. Which plays do you like?”

“Um, _ Love Amongst The Dragons,  _ and-”

Mai giggled, covering her mouth. Zuko slid down his chair, crossing his arms. Her reaction reminded him of his fathers, although Ozai’s laugh was much more harsh and demeaning. Mai noticed his change in mood, and stopped laughing. 

“Sorry. I didn’t try to be mean.” She looks down at her toes. “It’s just, my baby brother watches the movie version and loves it, so…” she trails off, unsure of what to say.

“Well, my mommy says the movie version is super wrong and in- in-“ Zuko struggles to remember the word his mother used. 

“Inaccurate?” Zuko lights up.

“Yeah! Inaccurate. My mom says the movie version is inaccurate, so you shouldn’t judge it.” Mai considers this for a bit, then nods.

“Okay. That makes sense.” She taps her finger against her chin, then lights up. “I have an idea!”

“What?”   
  
“You should do the play at recess?” Fear grips at Zuko’s heart at the thought of performing in front of someone he doesn’t really know. “No, come on! It’ll be super duper fun!” Mai claps her hands excitedly, blabbing on about how  _ absolutely awesome  _ this is going to be. 

Zuko draws his knees up to his chest and looks away. Mai tilts her head at him, reaching out a hand and resting it on his knee. “Are you okay? I’m sorry if I made you mad.”

He sighs. “It’s okay. But, what if I mess up in front of everybody, and they hate me?” Mai’s eyebrows crease as she draws them together. 

“If anyone is mean to you, don’t worry. I’ll beat them up.” 

Zuko looks up at her. “Really?”

“Really.” 

And thus was the start of a wonderful friendship.

  
  


It was not, in fact, a wonderful friendship. 

Mai regularly bullied him for his crush on Jet, poking and prodding at him and annoying him into making a move. Jet had rejected him, and quite bluntly.  _ You’re too traumatized, dude. Get therapy, and then we’ll talk. _

Yeah. Ouch.  Mai, of course, had cackled when he told her how it had gone.  _ He’s kind of right,  _ she’d said.  _ You should get therapy. It’ll help you.  _

So, because he didn’t want to make his best friend mad, he promptly went to Uncle Iroh and asked to start therapy. Piandao was a wonderful man; a bit serious, but Zuko liked it. He talked to him like an adult; an equal. Zuko could appreciate that.

Soon, he found himself sleeping through the night and not flinching when Iroh came out with the teapot.  _ I’m proud of you,  _ he’d said around a cup of Jasmine tea. Zuko had smiled awkwardly and changed the subject. 

Mai also said she was proud, through finally letting him touch her knife collection. She protected them with her life, and Zuko didn’t have the heart (or the guts) to tell her that the knives were supposed to be the ones doing the life-protecting. Still, they were beautiful. Silver metal with red accents, sharp as Mai’s pinning gaze. 

His short lived crush on Jet faded with time, and Zuko found himself thinking more and more about his best friend. Anyone with eyes knew that Mai was beautiful, the way that sharpened knives and jagged porcelain are. 

In a way, he’d known he’d loved her since he’d put on that play when they were little kids. She pushed him to be better, to be stronger, faster, and kinder. She wouldn’t settle for anything less than perfect. Mai knew what she wanted and how to get it, and if Zuko wasn’t so enamoured by it he’d probably be scared. 

But he doesn’t want to rush things, so he holds off on telling Mai about his newly realized feelings. Perceptive as always, she notices he’s acting different but mercifully doesn’t bring attention to it. She probably knows he loves her, and is just waiting for him to spit it out already. 

And he should-- he knows he should, but there’s something to deliciously saccharine about the wait. The way she catches her breath when he tucks an errant strand of hair back into her updo, the slight blush that graces her cheeks when he drags his hand across her hip. He knows, and she knows, and it’s maddening to wait for the right moment.

Until it’s not. 

Until it’s Sokka’s annual end-of-finals pool party, and Zuko and Mai sneak out to the deck like they do every year. It’s just them and the distant thrum of music and the stars winking into existence once by one. It should be awkward, but its not. Mai tells him about The Pakku Incident, when Sokka had hacked his speakers and played WAP. Zuko snorts, and Mai laughs even harder at that. He vaguely registers that she looks beautiful like this, head thrown back and hands clutching her stomach. 

She lets out the last remaining giggles, wiping away the tears that threaten to spill out of the corners of her eyes. Zuko lets himself stare and he grins at the knowing look on Mai’s face. She steps closer, almost daring him to back down. 

He doesn’t, instead placing his arms around her waist and drawing her flush against him. “Hi,” she says, the smile in her voice evident as she braces her hands on his chest.

“Hey.” 

“So, you gonna kiss me or what? Because I have something much better I could be doing with my mouth.” 

“Oh? Do tell.”

“I could be eating these moon peaches, but- “

Zuko kisses her then, the taste of shitty fruit punch and dry pretzels on her tongue. She smiles against his lips as he pulls away, lacing her fingers around his neck. “Still want to eat those moon peaches?” 

Mai grins, wicked in the glint of the moonlight. “These bad boys are only around during the summer season.” She nips at his bottom lip. “You, however, are here year round.” Zuko throws his head back and laughs, bright and clear and louder than he has in ages. 

“Glad to know you have your priorities in order.”

“Shut up and kiss me, jerk.”

And because he’s still somewhat scared of her, Zuko complies. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> maiko :'))
> 
> if you stick around for when i publish my sukka fic, you'll get an in depth look to the Pakku Incident. i think i am absolutely hilarious. i am right.
> 
> find me on tumblr (@beepboopbitch) and leave a comment + kudos if you enjoyed !


End file.
